


and now for something completely different

by historiologies



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, MDZS AU, Shifty - Freeform, Time and Space Travel, i hope you like it alex, ive taken liberties, kind of delving into a fantasy world but through incense burner, rating is just for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22303888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/historiologies/pseuds/historiologies
Summary: Soonyoung and Wonwoo travel into the world of Soonyoung’s current favorite novel. Yes, it's Soonwoo meets Wangxian. Ish.A commission to help with the Aussie Fires!
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	and now for something completely different

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Alex, I hope you like this. I hope it made enough sense, though I'm so sorry Wangxian didn't talk to the boys enough. I blame the language barrier. shakes fist at sky. Thank you for donating to a good cause!! 
> 
> To everyone else, waves hands. Have at it.

“Oh my God.”

“Shut _up_ and let me think,” Soonyoung insists, voice high-pitched. His eyes are bugging out and staring straight at Wonwoo, whose eyes are equally bugged out. “Don’t panic.”

“You’re telling me not to panic. That’s good. That’s nice,” Wonwoo says through gritted teeth. Soonyoung can feel how his bones have gone all rigid by the way his fingers have clasped around his wrists. “After all, we’ve just entered one of your fantasy novels and have been transported back through time and space to _ancient China_.” Wonwoo’s voice climbs the scale so impressively, Soonyoung thinks he should audition for the university choir when they get back.

If they get back.

Shit. Fuck. _Fuck_.

Soonyoung clears his throat. “Technically, I don’t think this is China yet.”

Wonwoo stares at him for a few seconds before a strange smile comes over his face; he nods once, then turns around, walking towards a nearby tree, and hugging it before screaming his lungs out.

_And he says I’m the dramatic one._

“Wonwoo, calm down —”

“Soonyoung, I don’t think you have any right to tell me to calm down—”

“I think it’s just a dream!” Soonyoung blurts out. He grabs his best friend by the shoulders and shakes him, willing him to stop freaking out. Weird. He’d always thought that he’d be the one freaking out in circumstances like this, but it turns out his best friend is a little less calm and reserved in the dream world as he is in the real world. “I think it’s a combination of being so caught up in reading this book and those fancy little incense sticks that Junhui gave us that we lit before going to sleep.”

“We lit them because you said it put you in the mood for some ‘demonic cultivation’,” Wonwoo grouses, raising his fingers and miming air quotes. He sighs, before using his fingers to rub at his temples as if he had a headache. “I wish Junnie were here. Or Hao.”

“Hey,” Soonyoung quips, mildly offended.

“They’d come in handy being, you know, _Chinese_ ,” Wonwoo retorts. He huffs, before collapsing on the floor, morose. 

Soonyoung feels bad, but truth be told, he’s way more excited to start exploring. He hopes Wonwoo gets over his hissyfit soon because he wants to know where they’ve landed and if he’ll be able to see the Cloud Recesses — or better yet, the Burial Mound — before he wakes up.

“Wonwoo, come on, we’ll be okay,” he cajoles softly. 

Wonwoo looks up and gives him a deadpan expression. “If it’s a dream, Soonyoung, why am I in your dream? Or why are you in mine?”

“It happens in the book!”

“Really?” Wonwoo asks, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Well, technically he hasn’t gotten to that part yet, but no way is he going to tell Wonwoo that he knows about the incense burner chapters because he’d skimmed ahead to see the rated chapters. He is _invested_ in Wei Wuxian’s happiness, thank you very much.

“Really.” He reaches out and gives Wonwoo a hand to lift himself up. “Now let’s get out of here and find somewhere to stay. This is a really scary world, you know, full of zombies and like, evil creatures. And stuff.”

“I figured, from the whole demonic cultivation thing,” Wonwoo says. He sighs, before placing his hands on Soonyoung’s shoulders, forcing the other to march forward. He feels Wonwoo’s clammy fingers flex in his hoodie, and Soonyoung knows he’s the type to absolutely hate wandering around an unknown place without knowing exactly what he’s getting himself into. Any other time and place, Wonwoo would be on his phone already, researching how to get them to a safe place or a point of interest.

Now, Wonwoo has to do what he hates doing most of all — trust Soonyoung’s gut instinct.

(Not because he doesn’t trust Soonyoung, but because when he does, without any ounce of foresight or self-preservation, they run into all sorts of mischief and mishaps that usually end up with bumps, scrapes, bruises or what-not. If they’re lucky.)

“Alright, Kwon. My life is in your hands,” Wonwoo says, and Soonyoung huffs out a laugh. So dramatic. “Lead the way.”

—-

It’s nearly dark when they make it to what looks to be a small riverside town ablaze with round paper lanterns. There’s a buzz in the air, and people from all walks of life mingle together happily, all seemingly headed towards the central point of the town.

In halting, very rudimentary Chinese (the boatman was very kind and patient with them, thank goodness), they find out the name of the place was Caiyi Town.

Soonyoung’s eyes brighten. He knows this place, and he says as much. “I know this place!” he tells Wonwoo, triumphant. “It’s under the protection of the Lan cultivation sect.” He bounces up and down. “Maybe we’ll see some cultivators before we leave.”

They’d managed to finesse some non-descript robes from the back of an empty boat — does it count as stealing if they’re in a dream? Soonyoung will work out the ethics later — and so they manage to wander around without drawing too much attention to themselves. Soonyoung lets Wonwoo fuss over the ties of his outer robes, way too excited to take in everything firsthand.

“Stay still a little, Soon-ah,” Wonwoo grumbles, but Soonyoung can tell he’s crossed over from stressed to mildly curious about their situation. Which is great. If Soonyoung can get him to read Mo Dao Zu Shi instead of that economics book he’s been raving about for weeks now, then maybe Soonyoung will have someone to talk to about it.

(If he manages to somehow discern that Wonwoo isn’t freaked out by the boy love happening in the novel, maybe he can figure out if it’s okay to ask him out on a real date, not one of those study dates he ends up making them out to be. Jihoon thinks he’s chicken, and he’s not incorrect. Jihoon also thinks he’s a dumbass for taking possible cues from a novel set in an ancient Chinese fantasy world about bickering friends who end up soulmates, but he refuses to dignify Jihoon with the satisfaction of being even marginally correct. Which is why this has to work.)

(Being in love with your best friend since high school and roommate since the start of university. Not ideal. But being in love with Wonwoo… not the worst.)

“Wonwoo-yah, I want to buy one of those little animal toys that A-Yuan has in the book! The one that helps Sizhui remember that _he’s_ little A-Yuan.” He’s practically vibrating with pent-up energy. Who even knows how much time they have left here? He has to see everything. He _wants_ to see everything.

“You have no money here,” Wonwoo reminds him, and Soonyoung’s face falls.

“Oh. Right.”

He hears Wonwoo sigh, before he tugs the hat they’d also managed to procure over Soonyoung’s head, patting it softly. “Come on, Soon-ah. Let’s see what fictional historical folk from Caiyi Town do on a nice night like this.” He feels Wonwoo squeeze his shoulder, and is assuaged by it.

It’s funny how things ended up with Wonwoo telling him not to worry and to go with the flow. But that’s just how they are together — they balance out each other’s weak points, always have and always will.

They walk together silently, not wanting to draw attention to their foreign tongue. The streets of Caiyi Town at night are ablaze with activity, with merchants lining the streets offering their wares to pretty ladies hanging out of windows, calling out soft words of admiration and wishes of good fortune to all. Soonyoung takes them all in, grinning from ear to ear, and from the corner of his eye, he can see Wonwoo glancing at him continuously, smiling quietly to himself every once in awhile.

Maybe it’s because Wonwoo’s distracted by Soonyoung’s awe that he fails to see two people blocking their way and they bump into them unceremoniously, collapsing in an ungainly heap at their feet.

“Ugh, Wonwoo-yah, are you okay?”

“I, uh, think so…”

Still a bit shaken, Soonyoung reaches out, trying to find Wonwoo’s hands or legs or any appendage next to him, but his fingers end up clenching around a long hem. The material is thick, but fine to touch, and Soonyoung can feel intricate little patterns embroidered all over the cloth. A fancy robe, a rich man’s robe.

Soonyoung’s heart skips a beat.

A _cultivator’s_ robe?

He blinks slowly, and looks up. What he sees almost gives him a heart attack.

Two people are peering down at him, one with concern wrinkling his brow and the other looking back at him with narrowed eyes. The concerned one had long straight dark hair spilling over his shoulders, tied back only with a solitary bright red ribbon, and he was carrying a small porcelain jar with a beautiful blue tassel. His robes were black, but had trimmings of red and even a hint of purple. The other one, the one with the glare, had an imposing ceremonial silver headpiece at the crown of his head, and he was clad in light blue inner robes, with a fancy, pristine white outer robe. Secured at his hip was an imposing weapon, a sword with a silver and white hilt, sheathed in frost with white jade tassels hanging off it.

But the weirdest fucking part was the guy in black robes had _his_ face, and the guy in the fancy white robe had _Wonwoo’s_.

Soonyoung’s jaw dropped. _What the f…_

The one in dark robes leaned against the other, grinning widely with his face, obviously trying to read the situation and if it was of any concern or not. He spoke brightly to the other, and Soonyoung caught the words “Lan Zhan” somewhere in there.

“Wonwoo…”

“Soonyoung, why the fuck do they look like us?” Wonwoo murmurs next to him, awfully calm in the face of, well, absolute incredulity. “Should I freak out? I want to freak out. Can I freak out?”

“Stop, get up first, and follow me.” He stands up, pulling Wonwoo up with him. He gives both of the cultivators what he hopes is the universal sign for peace (two fingers in a V…) before he clears his throat and does the bow that Junhui taught him when he first started getting into these novels, with his hands in a wide circle away from his body and bending from the waist.

He beams widely, before nudging Wonwoo to repeat after him. “It’s an honor to meet you, Yiling Patriarch, Hanguang-Jun.”

The two look curiously at each other before giving each other the tiniest head shakes, and then looking back at them both and giving them bows in return.

Soonyoung makes it as far as that before he blurts out, in Korean. “I’m a huge fan, and I think you guys are really cool and—”

“Wei Ying,” says Lan Wangji, and it’s absolutely ridiculous how two words in Wonwoo’s _voice_ with what he’d always imagined the Lightbearing Lord’s gravitas to be just turns him into jelly. 

Wei Wuxian steps forward to snap twice in rapid succession in front of his eyes and he opens his mouth to protest, but his knees dissolve and he’s falling against Wonwoo while everything turns black.

—-

“Soonyoung-ah? Soon-ah? Are you awake?”

Everything is dark and hazy but Wonwoo’s voice pierces through the fog of disorientation that Soonyoung’s swimming in. He opens his eyes, everything bleary until he blinks himself to wakefulness. “Wonwoo? Where are we?”

“Awake and back in our dorm. Thankfully.” Wonwoo heaves a sigh of relief when he sees Soonyoung come to. The sweet smell of the incense still lingers in the air, and Soonyoung can barely talk, brain speed moving at a snail’s pace. He’s so woozy, but he can still feel the grit of their stolen robes against his skin, the smell of the river in the air.

He’d been _in_ the novel. Holy shit. _Holy shit_.

“Oh my God, Wonwoo. That. Was. So. Cool!” He turns to the other, fully awake now. He feels exhausted, like he hadn’t slept a wink, and he thinks he developed a rash from those robes or something, but what a price to pay for an adventure like that.

“We are never lighting these incense sticks again,” Wonwoo mutters from the other bed, and Soonyoung laughs before bounding over the few meters that separate them, tucking himself against Wonwoo’s side and bouncing happily, trying to persuade a smile out of the other. 

He persists until he gets a begrudging one.

“It was fun though, wasn’t it?”

“I guess,” Wonwoo sighs. He peers strangely at Soonyoung. “So those two guys at the end, the ones who you recognized, those are the two leads in your novel?”

“Yes,” Soonyoung gushes, eyes still sparkly at the idea of having met Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.

“And like, they’re best friends, right?”

“Um…” Soonyoung hums. “They are very, very close,” he manages to say with a straight face. “They are very important people to each other.” He stops just short of revealing their relationship.

“I see,” Wonwoo murmurs. “And why do they have our faces?”

“Ah.” Soonyoung is _not_ going to regale Wonwoo with stories of how hot he finds Lan Wangji, neither is he going to enlighten him about the fact that he’d always imagined him having Wonwoo’s face. “I don’t know how magic incense sticks work, Wonwoo.” He clears his throat nervously.

Wonwoo peers closely at him, so serious that Soonyoung starts getting nervous about what he’s looking for. “What?”

“Nothing.” Wonwoo lies back on his bed and turns his back on Soonyoung. Soonyoung stares at Wonwoo’s frame, a little hurt that he’s being shut out right now after arguably the greatest adventure of his young life.

He sniffs. Fine. Whatever. He doesn’t need Wonwoo. Next time, he’ll light those incense sticks on his own and drift back into the world of cultivation by himself.

“Don’t even think about doing it by yourself.”

Soonyoung makes a little surprised sound at the sudden quip from Wonwoo, and gives him a stinkeye while he can’t see him.

He stands up, about to go sulk in his morning shower when Wonwoo interrupts him again. “Hey, uh. If you’re done with your book, maybe I can, I don’t know, borrow it or something.”

Soonyoung’s jaw drops. 

He forgets to reply, because Wonwoo suddenly looks over his shoulder at him standing in the doorframe; if Soonyoung squinted, he’d probably be able to see the faint pink dusting across his cheeks.

“It’s only because if you ever sneak me back in so that I can be prepared. Just that.”

Soonyoung blinks. “Okay. If you’re absolutely sure. You should probably do a little research about the basic information about the novel first.”

“No, I’m sure.” Wonwoo nods, before turning back to face the wall, shoulders hunched over as if embarrassed. “But thank you. I will.”

A slow smile grows on Soonyoung’s face. _So Wonwoo wanted to read Mo Dao Zu Shi, huh…_

He clears his throat and closes the door, already making mental plans to detour past the specialty bookshop he’d bought his copy at to get Wonwoo his own.

**Author's Note:**

> svt stuff at @/historiologies, mdzs at @/hanguangjuun


End file.
